We Need Each Other - Day 231 Month 8-18 Week 33-7
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
1 Kings 5:1-6:12, Proverbs 21:1-10, Ezekiel 28:25-29:21, 1 Corinthians 11:23-12:31
We Need Each Other
I am writing this on a Sunday morning. On a typical Sunday where we are attending church, we’d leave about now. Today though, I am sitting home writing and Sylvia has gone to town where she is participating in Paint the Town. Sylvia is an artist. Yesterday she was sitting in the Historic Gardens painting a flowering water lily. I dropped in after doing a short shift at work to see how she was doing and took this picture of Sylvia in action.
This painting, like all paintings completed in Paint the Town, goes up for auction at the following link https://www.32auctions.com/PaintTheTown2026 from August 17-21. This post will be published on August 19 so you, the reader, can bid online for a couple more days and the painting will be shipped, for a flat rate, to anywhere in Canada. I’m sure if a person bids from outside of Canada, there would be an extra charge for the shipping.
Sylvia is a gifted artist. I am creative in other ways. I believe everyone is creative in one way or another but no 2 people are creative in exactly the same way. I believe it’s as individual as your fingerprints.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul is talking about the faith community in general by describing the parts of the faith community as like a human body. The entire body must work together. The foot can’t say “because I’m not a hand, I am not part of the body,” the ear can’t say “because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body” (1 Corinthians 12:15, 16).
Paul goes on to explain that everyone who is part of the spiritual body has varying gifts that contribute to the whole body. This is one of the reasons that I, as a Jesus follower, need to be a part of a group of Jesus followers that regularly meets together (the church). I’ve heard a Jesus follower acting like a lone wolf is much less effective than the very same Jesus follower being part of a church. The reality is, acting together is much more complete than acting alone, and Paul’s point is far greater than simply being better together. Each part of the church body needs the other parts.
When Sylvia and I are working on a renovation project, Sylvia will often present an idea. It may start like, “I was thinking...” Though Sylvia is an artist, when it comes to visualizing a renovation, she doesn’t imagine the end result. She just knows what she wants. I can take that idea, put it into my CAD program and present the end result without putting a piece of wood to a wall. Sylvia can look at it and suggest how it’s not exactly what she was thinking and I can adjust it. Once the final drawing is complete, we both know what we need to do to achieve the goal. Sylvia could not do this on her own and I can’t do all this on my own. We need Sylvia’s idea and my ability to put it on paper. We need each other.
As a Jesus follower, I need to remember we are members of one body and need one another. Therefore, I need meaningful connection with other Jesus followers rather than trying to live my faith as a lone wolf.
The apostle Paul is priming us for tomorrow where he will “show you a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).
I suspect it may have something to do with love.
Have a great day!
Steve
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